'There is no reason why we can't perform in Cape Town' - Niclas Grönholm.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.

Niclas Grönholm is ready for the 2019 FIA World Rallycross Championship season finale in Cape Town in November after a relatively positive season for GRX Taneco who are second in the teams' standings. 

GRX Taneco entered the 2019 World RX season with an updated Hyundai i20 Supercar, and right out of the box in Abu Dhabi, the Finnish squad showed a strong pace with a second-place finish for Gronholm and a seventh-place finish for teammate Timur Timerzyanov. 

In Abu Dhabi, despite crossing the finish line first Grönholm received a time penalty for ''pushing and passing'' Kevin Hansen in the final and would finish in second place. The Finn sat out of two events after appendicitis surgery and claimed victory in Norway on his return after Anton Marklund was disqualified for a technical infringement. 

The Hyundai i20 Supercar has improved over the course of the season, and with no manufacturers heading the field, the 2019 FIA World Rallycross Championship has been the closest fought championship to date.  

The 23-year-old Finn struggled with consistent starts in Latvia but claimed a second-place finish. 

"Honestly, we have a very good car and I am happy with how it handles," he said. "There is no reason why we can't perform there [South Africa] but let's see."

Grönholm has not had the strongest performance at the Killarney International Raceway [in Cape Town] having claimed a fifteenth place finish in 2017 and thirteenth place finish in 2018.

"It's not really a track that I like and I have been bad there in the past few years, but it looks like the tracks that I don't like I have been quite okay this year. So, maybe things will change."

Written By Junaid Samodien